On October 12, the first National Teaching Materials Construction Award was announced. The seventh edition of Higher Mathematics (volume 1, volume 2) compiled by Tongji University won the "National Excellent Teaching Materials Special Prize" (10 items altogether nationwide, including 4 items in higher education).

"This honor is attributed to the fine tradition of the older generation of mathematics at Tongji University who attaches great importance to teaching and teaching materials." As a participant of the writing work in Tongji university" Higher Mathematics" from the first to the seventh edition, the only writer of the seventh edition of the Tongji university" Higher Mathematics", professor Qiu Bo Zou, who is over eighty years old, professor of College of Mathematical Science of Tongji university, said:" The seventh edition of Advanced Mathematics inherits the fine tradition of the Advanced Mathematics Handouts compiled by Mr. Fan Yingchuan and others in the 1950s. It is revised on the basis of the first six editions of textbooks and is committed to contributing a high-quality textbook to the construction of high-quality undergraduate education in China. We are very pleased that we can win the wide praise and love of the national engineering mathematics community and the majority of readers."

Inherit the fine tradition and valuable experience of "Advanced Mathematics Handouts"

The mention of the name "Fan Yingchuan" has aroused the memory of several generations of Chinese students. The book "Advanced Mathematics Handouts", which Mr. Fan Yingchuan presided over and compiled in the 1950s, is still talked about by a large number of older readers, and has a wide influence in the national higher engineering colleges.

After the founding of the People's Republic of China, the newly born higher education lacks appropriate textbooks. Since 1953, Professor Fan Yingchuan has organized some senior teachers with rich teaching experience in the Mathematics Teaching and Research Group to compile textbooks by themselves, which are named Advanced Mathematics Handouts. The manuscript of the textbook is based on Professor Fan Yingchuan's teaching notes and handouts. "Handout" not only absorbs the advantages of foreign textbooks, but also fully considers the teaching practice in China, which meets the requirements of higher engineering mathematics teaching in China.

The first edition of “Advanced Mathematics Handouts"(Volume I and Volume II) was published by the People's Education Press in March 1958, and was soon adopted by many engineering colleges in China. On the basis of widely listening to the suggestions, the second edition of Advanced Mathematics Handouts revised by Professor Fan Yingchuan was published in 1964. The two versions of Handout have been widely used and have had big influence. It is one of the excellent textbooks with Chinese characteristics compiled in China. It has won the first prize of the 1982 National Excellent Scientific and Technological Books and the 1988 National Excellent Teaching Materials of Colleges and Universities.

The book "Advanced Mathematics Handouts" has created a precedent for the "sinicization" of basic mathematics textbooks for science and engineering in China, and can be called a monument in the history of Chinese science and technology book publishing and the history of Chinese higher education.

"The older generation of mathematicians in Tongji University regard compiling textbooks as a career." Professor Qiu Bozou said with emotion that the book "Advanced Mathematics Handouts" left a good tradition and valuable experience in the compilation of engineering mathematics textbooks. First, the teaching materials are properly positioned, and the depth and breadth of the content of the teaching materials are always taken as the primary consideration in compiling the teaching materials, so as to better face the majority of engineering colleges in China and conform to the syllabus of higher mathematics courses. Second, it is convenient for teaching. We always put the teaching materials in an important position to facilitate teachers' teaching and students' understanding, and truly implement the spirit of "Teachers and students oriented". Third, the narration is rigorous and the words are fluent. "These fine traditions and valuable experience have laid an important foundation for our later compilation of Higher Mathematics, and made this textbook a high starting point from the very beginning."

Make Great Efforts to Create a High-Quality Textbook for Advanced Mathematics of Engineering

In 1977, after the resumption of the college entrance examination, the engineering mathematics community in colleges and universities urgently needed a textbook to meet the needs of engineering higher mathematics teaching. The Mathematics Teaching and Research Office of Tongji University bravely shouldered this burden, and invited some university teachers in Shanghai to participate in the preparation of relevant chapters. A total of 10 teachers took one year to complete the preparation.

In 1978, the first edition of Advanced Mathematics was published. Since the second edition, this textbook has been independently compiled by teachers of Tongji University. Wang Fuying, Qiu Bozou and Luo Chengqin, the older generation mathematicians of Tongji University, undertook the main task of compilation.

A book of "Advanced Mathematics" with different colors on the cover is engraved with the traces of time. Today, the textbook has been revised in seven versions and is improving day by day. Over the past 40 years, all versions have been printed more than 400 times in total, and the cumulative sales volume has exceeded 50 million copies.

"In the process of each revision , on the basis of continuing to maintain the advantages and characteristics of the original textbooks, we have also combined long-term teaching practice, insisted on reform and repeated refining, and tried to reflect the latest achievements of higher mathematics curriculum reform and discipline construction at home and abroad, reflecting the new ideas and concepts of education and teaching." Professor Qiu Bozou said that it is particularly worth mentioning that we have a teaching material compilation team that combines old, middle-aged and young people. The compilers are of high level and directly participate in the front-line teaching practice of higher mathematics.

"Higher Mathematics" won the favor of readers, and the honor also followed. In 1988, the second edition of Higher Mathematics won the first prize of Excellent Teaching Materials of Colleges and Universities of the National Education Commission. In 1997, the third edition of Advanced Mathematics won the first prize of the national teaching achievement of ordinary colleges and universities. The fifth, sixth and seventh editions of Advanced Mathematics were selected into the national planning textbooks of the "Tenth Five Year Plan", the "Eleventh Five Year Plan" and the "Twelfth Five Year Plan" respectively.

In 2013, Advanced Mathematics is facing the seventh revision. At that time, some editors who participated in the preparation and revision of the first six editions had passed away, and some were unable to undertake the revision due to physical reasons. The revision of the seventh edition fell on the shoulders of Professor Qiu Bozou, who was more than 70 years old. "I feel that the national engineering mathematics community has an expectation of Tongji University, hoping that we can create a high-quality textbook of engineering higher mathematics to meet the needs of building high-quality undergraduate education in China under the new situation." Professor Qiu Bozou shouldered this historical mission and responsibility.

In accordance with the requirements of high-quality textbooks, while maintaining the advantages and characteristics of the first six editions, he took "adhering to reform, constantly refining, and creating high-quality textbooks" as the goal of compiling the seventh edition, earnestly summarized the valuable experience of the first six editions, and scientifically solved some shortcomings of the first six editions.

Has made important contributions to the cultivation of high-level talents for generations in China

In the past 70 years, generations of mathematicians in Tongji University have succeeded in inheriting the classics.

"The success of Advanced Mathematics originates from the continuous struggle and improvement of Fan Yingchuan, Wang Fuying, Qiu Bozou, Luo Chengqin and other authors. It is a model of following the teaching law and the law of textbook construction, improving through both compiling and using, and refining fine works. It is a model which reflects that universities, scholars and publishing institutions have not changed their original aspiration, cooperated sincerely, and pioneered and innovated for many years." Higher Education Press said so.

It is reported that since the seventh edition of Advanced Mathematics was published in 2014, the average annual sales volume has reached 2.14 million copies, with a total of 12.85 million copies printed. It is the most widely used and influential higher mathematics textbook in China, and has won unanimous praise from brother colleges and students. The textbook has been used for a long time by more than 1000 universities of different types in China, including Tongji University, Renmin University of China, Xiamen University, Lanzhou University, Central University of Finance and Economics, and China University of Mining and Technology.

In order to promote this high-quality teaching material resource to a wider range, the supporting resources of Advanced Mathematics teaching material are also constantly enriched. For example, taking this textbook as the blueprint, Tongji University's "Advanced Mathematics" MOOC was launched in China’s Universities MOOC in 2014. At present, there are more than 2.3 million online registered students, all over the world's five continents. In 2017, it was awarded the first batch of "National Excellent Online Open Courses" by the Ministry of Education, and in 2020, it was awarded the first batch of "Online and Offline Combined First Class Courses" by the Ministry of Education.

According to the Higher Education Press, the Advanced Mathematics compiled by the Department of Mathematics of Tongji University is rigorous in structure, clear in logic, concise in description, easy to understand, easy to teach and learn, and highly readable. It is suitable for science and engineering, economic management, agriculture, forestry and medicine and other disciplines. It is widely praised by teachers and students, and has made important contributions to the cultivation of high-level talents from generation to generation in China. (Written by Huang Aijiao, photo by Zhou You, College of Mathematics and Science)